Spring-retracted electric cigar lighter



I 1 1630952 May 92 w. Lascumm. SPRING RETRAGTED ELECTRIC CIGAR LIGHTER Filed.Dec. s, m; 2 Shets-Shee t 1 19 7. May 2 w. LESCHM'AN SPRING RETRACTED ELECTRIC 0mm LIGHTER Filed Dec. 6' 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented I May 31, 19 27.

Y U ITED S i S WILLIAM. LnscnMAN or emoneq IIiL I NOIS,FASSIGNQR BY innsnnfnss emvmnrsh To CHICAGO ELECTRICMANUFACZEURING1QOMlANY, OF; CHICAGO, ILLILIOIS, A con- PORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SPRING-emanate]: nLEcrnIoereAR ri e ngrnn.

Application filedDcicenibr 6,"19 2 Serial 678,895.

My invention relates to the general class i of electrical appliances in which a current- ,consuming device has the .currentsupplied to it through a flexible cord normallywound upon a spring-retracted reel. Generally speaking, it isthe object of my inventionito provide asiinple, compact and effective Jappliance of this kind; and to provide a'relatively inexpensive, easily installed and durzible construction including simple and effective ineans for affording thetneeded circuit connections and for automatically interrupting the circuit when the currentconsuming device has been retracted to a predetermined extent. I

More particularly," my invention provides an appliance of this kind adapted to be supported by a dashboard'or the like and so constructed as to have its major port ons concealed behind such a dashboard; provides.

a cheaply manufactured and easilyassembled spr ng-reel construction; prov des I means (desirablyinclnding a metal reel side) for carrying current to the current consuming device when the latter is drawn "out into position for use;' and provides means actuated theentry of jap'ortion of the saiddeviceint'o holder or socket for interrupting the circuitwhen th s de} vice s n its normally retractedend inoperfativ-eposition. Still further and also more detailed object 111 appearironi the 1- lowing specification: and from the accorrr- ,panying drawings, in which v Fig. 1 is a side "elevation ofan electric G i r mbodyin i y e it n, showing the disposition of the sainewith respect to a portion of the dashboard of "an automobile, this dashboard portion being indic tedflbydOttedElines. 1 7

Fig-- 2 is a front View ofthe same. 3 i a P n i w of the same, agpph ance with the upper portion of thecasing cut away and with the cigar lighter proper 111 its normal retracted position.

Fig. 4: is a plan-view ofthe saineiappli;

ance with the cigar lighter proper partly drawnloutfand with efeportionflof the 'topof circuit is then closed. M ,Fig. 5 s iragmentary inter or'view of the side of the casin shown .in

showing the switchingmeinber.

,the casing brokenflaway to show how the Figffi is a section taken along the line 66 ofiFlgfi. n v Flg. 7. 1s a SQCtlOll taken along the line Lever Fig. 5.

jFigLS s an enlarged vertical and transvverse section taken through the axis of the reel,]0r alongthe line 8" 8 of Fig. 3.]

Fig; 9 is a similarly enlarged plan view of the reehshowingthe sarnef with the-cord alniost entirely unwound.

Fig. 10 is an end view of the reel, spring and spring anchoring jclip, taken from the line'1 0 1O"inEig. 8 and'witli a portion of spring broken awayto show the fastening offth s end of the spr ng also."

. Fig; l1v is a perspective view ,of the body the anchoring cup forthe inner end ofthe of the reel, showing the mounting of the metal ends on] the" wooden spool." -Fig. 12 is a perspective.- 7 "iew of :the

wooden s'pool alone. 1. .i I

Fig.13 isja" perspective view of the anchoring cup {to which thelinner end of the p spring; i s secured.

Eii-l i$ P "spect v iew 0f t liw i before it is attached to the casing' Fig. 15 is affraginentary radial section through the reel, showing e inodiiied arrangeinent for preventing rotation of the cup which anchors the inner end of the spring, i i i ,Fig. 16 is a fragmentary view of my invention as embodied in a trouble-lamp.

In its immediate comrnercia]. aspects; my

invention is particularly suited for the construction of electric ciggir lighters suitable foruse upon. autoinobr s. I am therefore illustreting and describing it mainly in such an en rbodirnenti although I do not ,WiSh'to be lirn'ited' to any perticular application of the variQiis nQvel featuifes of the invention vh r Pre nted- I the drawings, Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive particularly show an 1 e rnbOClirnent in which thecurrent consuiningj device consists of a cigar lighter having a high resistance wire 1 mounted in thefforwardly directed open end of a casing-2;the ter i injals of thishigh resistance wire being connected respectively to the'jtwo strands} or wires icomprising a.

@flexible cable 3. "The mounting of ,the high resistance wire for this puigp'o se, :,together 7 wit E h jw iriwti th eri i we of the cigar lighter form no part of my present invention, these being here shown to correspoml to what is disclosed more fully in U. S, Patent 1,517,098, issued. November 25,1924, to Edward S. Preston on an electric cigar lighter. The flexible cord 3 is normally wound upon a springretracted reel as hereafter more fully described, so as to draw the shank of the cas ing 2 into a tubular socket or holder member l to an extent which is limited by the engagement of a projecting head 5 on the shank of the casing with the nut (3 which forms part of the means for clam 'iing the entire appliance to a dashboard 7. With this in mind, the appliance is provided with a hollow threaded shank 8 projecting forwardly from the front wall 9 of this casing, this shank being desirably integral with the socket l and hence secured jointly with the latter to the front wall 9 of the casing.

This threaded shank extends through a suitable perforation in the dashboard 7 with the front wall. 9 of the casing bearing against the rear of the dashboard, and a nut 6 threaded upon this shank so that the entire appliance can readily be clamped to the dashboard by merely tightening this nut from the front of the dashboard.

The casing of the appliance desirably has parallel side walls 10 and ll each of which walls has one wire terminal supported by the same. Thus, the drawings show one circuit wire 12 as leading to a screw 13 mounted on one side of the casing while the end of the other circuit wire 14; is secured to the other side 11 of the casing by a binding screw a5 but insulated from this latter side.

One wall of the :asing, shown in Fig. 6 as the wall 10, has a reel shaft rigidly secured to it and this shaft desirably has a base portion so formed as to cooperate with a suitable member for anchoring the inner end of a spi 'al spring 1 1- against rotation. For this purpose, I am showing the shaft 15 as having a square sectioned base 16 provided with a flattened extension 17. This extension. 1.7 extends into a correspondingly shaped opening in the adjacent wall 10 and is staked over against this wall at its outer end so as to anchor the shaft securely to the wall 10 after the manner shown in Fig. 8, thereby supporting the shaft from this one end and also preventing the shaft from rotating. The cylindrical portion 15 of the shaft affords an axle for a wooden spool 18 which forms the hub of the reel and which has two metal end flanges fastened to it by screws, such as the screws 47 and 48. One of these flanges, namely the end flange 19 of Figs. 8, 9 and 11, is desirably flat and spaced from the wall 11 so as to permit the disposing of a movable switch portion between the said flange and wall. The other flange 20 desir ably has its peripheral portion formed into a cylinder 21 extending t'OWlllClStllQ wall 10 and nori'nally lltiilllllg' against the latter. while the flat flange l!) is kept at the desired spacing from the wall ll. by a smaller diainetered extension 23 ot' the spool lb, which extension abuts against the wall it) as shown in Fig. 55.

()pcratively interposed between the stationary shaft and the reel is a spiral spring 14-, which spring desirably has its outer end secured to the peripheral extension ill on the flange 20. To secure the inner end of the spring against rotation, I desirably provide an anchoring cup having a base portion provided with a square. opcnir 7 i which tits slidably over the square section casing it) of the shaft. This cup has its lateral wall iii of greater height than the width of the said flange extension 11, so as to serve for spacing the reel flange 2 and the said extort-don freely from the wall ll). This cup wall 26 has a notch 27 formed into it from its free edge for receiving a portion of the shank of a button 28 which extends tl'n'ough a suitable perforation in the spiral spring 2st near the inner end of the latter. The peripheral portion 21 of the flange 20 also desirably has a corresponding notch 29 in the same for receiving a portion of the shank of a button 30 fastened to the spring 2% near the outer end of the latter.

The flexible cord 3 which normally is wound upon the reel as shown in Figs. 3 and 8 desirably has the inner end of both of its wires extending through a bore 30 (Fig. 9) into a recesss 31. formed in the hub portion of the spool 18. One of these inner wire ends is desirably secured by a binding screw 32 to a lug formed from the flange 2 and bent into the said recess I'll, thereby connecting this wire to the metal of the reel and hence allording an electrical connection both through the flange extension 2t and through the shaft 15 to the wall it) to which the circuit wire 12 is grounded. The other inner wire end desirably extends through a suitable perforation (Fig. ll) in the flat flange 10 to the exterior of the latter and is secured to this flange by a screw 3t (shown in Fig. 9) so as to connect this wire to the flange 19 which is insulated from the other flange and from the casing by the wooden spool 1.

To make an interruptible circuit: connection to this insulated flange 19, 1. provide a switching member electrically connected to the screw l5 and disposed for yicldingly engaging the said flange. For this purpose, I am here showing a resilient arm 3;) moun ed on but suitably insulated from the wall 11, this resilient arm 35 having a linger H) which can be pressed against the flat: metal flange 19 by the resiliency of the said arm. The arm 35 also carries a stud 3'7 insulated from the arm by an insulating bushing 58 Hill (as shown inFi g. 6) and normally extend;

ii'lg through a bore 39in the tubularsocket 4 -in which the shank "2 -of*the'ciirrent-coir sumin-g a pliance is "normally l'socketed.

Thearm 85"is so formed that its resiliency continuously tends to force the finger into engagement with the flat metal flange 19 to which onewire of the'flexi ble; cord is connected and hence tends to make theelectrical connection tojthe circuit wire 14 spring, the shank? of" the current-consuming device forces the stud 87 outwardly of the a said socket or into the position shown in Fig. 8', thereby-moving the contact finger 36 out" 'of engagement'with' the flat reel flange 19' and hence interrupting the circuit; To

.facilitatefthis movement of the switching arm 35,?I1desirablyslope.thefree end of the studi'? afterthemanner shown in Fig. 6',

so that the rounded rear end of the shank 2 willeXert-a cama'ction on this s'tu'd.- To

insulate the switching arm from the casing wall ll to which it is fastened, I "desirably inter-pose an. insulating 'plate 40 betwee i it and the/wall 11 and alsoprovideacompanioni'nsulating plate 41' hearing against the outer face of the wall. 11.. ThenI secure the said parts to each other by rivets 12 and 43 after the manner shown in Fig. '7 and thread one ofthese rivets so as to re ceive the Wire-screw 455, the rivets being kep'tout of engagement with the wall 11 by their extending through perforations of a considerably larger diameter than the shanks of the rivets. I

\Vith' the parts thus constructed, it will be evident from the drawings that they permit a speedy assembling of "the yarious parts andthat the numb'erof fastenlng elements required is quite small. The reel portion can be assembled before the insertion in the casing after the manner shown in Figs. 9 and 11, and theshaft 15 can be riveted to the 'wall' 10 of the casing, which wall desirably is formed integral with the front Wall 9. Then the two ends of the spring can be interlocked respectively with the-reel flange rim 21 and with the anchoring cup 25 as shown in Fig. 10, after whichthe reel with the'spring and the said anchoring cup connected to it are "slid into position over the shaft from the free endof the latter, or

from the right in Fig; 8. The reel is'then turned until the spring. hasbeen suitably wound or tightened, after which the flexible cord is drawn through the socket 4E. and

through the perforation in the hub of the reel and has the ends of its two wires secured respectively to the lug 33. on the flange 20 and to the flat flange l9. Then the wall 11 from the appended claims. shows another form ofanchoring' cup dewith theswitching member (which switch- -1'ng memberinclu'des the arm 35) already secured to the same as shown in Fig. 5 and with'lthe peripheral wall portion 46 also fastened to itpisls'li'pped into position andfastened to the other casing portion by screws et l, thereby permanentlyclosing the casing to retain the reel'inits operative position and to prevent tampering with the signedfor usewi-th a shaft which has no square sectioned portion, namely one having a lug which enters a corresponding perforation in the-adjacent wall of the casing so as "to prevent the cup from-rotating about the shaft. I I

Neither 'do'I wish' to be'limited to the use of my spring reel construction and of my automatic switching arrangement with an electric cigar lighter-as the current consuming device, since other. devices might readily be substituted for this portion of the appliance. For example, F 16 shows my appliance as employed in connection with a flash lamp or so-called trouble lamp.

I claim as my invention p v 1. The combination with a current-con suming device and a pair of flexible conductors leading thereto, of a stationary tubular member in which a portion of the said device is normally socketed, a reel for the conductors, the reel having a metal side portion forming a'terminal for one of the conductors, spring means for rotating the reel to wind the conductors thereon and. to retract the said portion of the deviceinto the said shell, the current-consuming device having a portion thereof engaging a rigid part of the said tubular member to limit the retraction of the said device, a stationary wire terminal, and a resilient switching member controlling the circuit through the conductors, the switching member having a with the said reel side portion by the resiliency of the switching member when the said 7 device is drawn out of the said tubular member, the switching member also having an actuating portion extending'laterally into the said-tubular member and so disposed as to have its said contact portion moved out of contact with the said reel side when the which the tubular member has a lateral perforation. and in which the actuating portion of the switching member extends through the perforation into the tubular member and is yieldi ngly pressed laterally inwardly of the tubular member by the resiliency of the switching member.

3. An. electric appliance as per claim 1, in which the tubular member has a lateral perforation and in which the actuating portion of the switching member extends through the perforation into the tubular member and is yieldingly pressed laterally inwardly of the tubular member by'the resiliency oil the switching member, the said actuating portion having an inclined 'lace engaged by the current-umsuming device with a cam action when the latter is drawn into the said shell.

l. The combination with a portablecurrent-consuming device, of a holder normally socketing the same, a pair of llexible conductors leading to the device, a s 'u-ing-retracted rotatable reel upon which the conductors are normally wound, means for continuously connecting one side of an electric circuit to one terminal of the device, a contact element carried by the reel and connected to the other terminal of the device and a resilient switching member connected to the other side of the circuit, the switch ing member having a portion disposed for engaging the contact element and another portion. urged by its resiliency transversely into the holder and disposed for being moved by engagement with the device when the latter is being socketed so as to open the circuit.

5. A combined holder and rctractor for a portable current-consuming device having a shank at its rear end and for a pair of flexible conductors leading to the device; the said holder and retractor comprising a sta tionary support, a holder member mounted on the support and having a tubular portion slidably entered by the said shank and provided with a lateral aperture a reel includ ing a hub rotatably mounted on the support and a metal reel side, spring means for rotating the reel to wind the conductors thereon a contact member yieldingly engaging the metal reel side, and means including an element extei'iding through the said. aperture into the path of the entering shank of the device and. adapted to be moved laterally out of the holder by engagi-iment with the said shank during the socketing of the latter in the holder so as to move the contact member out 01 engagement with the metal reel side.

Signed at Chicago Illinois, November WILLIAM LESCHMAN. 

